Friday, November 28, 2014

I am still recovering from shock
of the events of last couple of days and in no mood to write a big well
structured letter. So, this one will be more of a short note, a note of thanks
and farewell.

Being an intense follower of the
game I have heard your name at least six years back when even before making
your test debut you were touted as taking the responsibility of opening for
Australia after retirement of Hayden and Langer, one of the most successful
opening pairs in the history of the game. Then you were selected to play your
first test in 2009 after Matthew Hayden’s retirement and I faintly remembered
you had a great beginning of your international career. But like the entire
Australian team on this post-2007 era, your form also deviate. You were
dropped. But you were there somewhere all the time. Whenever I read any article
about Australian cricket in Cricinfo and other sites your name kept coming up.
I remember noticing that you had made a debut hundred in ODIs (Now I know you
are the only Australian to do so), I remember the controversy involving you
when you tweeted about you not getting selected in the next day’s test matches
before the official team announcement. May be it was an immature move in today’s
sporting world of professionalism and formality but it showed your discontent in
not getting selected for your country.

Source: Twitter

I remember you from your last
tour of India. You were particularly unstable and struggled a lot against the
Indian spinners from the beginning. But you showed wonderful grit and
application to finally produce couple of good, fighting innings for a team who
were getting thrashed in the ground and also involved in ‘homeworkgate’ off the fields.

All these were small memories
Phill, may be ten-fifteen years down the line, I would have forget all those
things but now that will not be the case. Since last Tuesday, you have become
part of the Legends of this great game. You know Indians are now in Australia
to play a test series, you could have been a part of that too. I was checking
the scorecard of the Indian team’s practice match when I saw the news that you
were hurt and taken to hospital in a very critical condition. I remembered a
similar incident occurred to Nari Contractor, then Indian captain, during India’s
tour of West Indies in 1962. Contractor survived, but had to left cricket at
the age of 28. I thought similar fate was waiting for you and that made me sad.
But little I knew I was ambitious. Yesterday, the worst possible thing happened
and I was saddened beyond words.

Source: Twitter

Look Phill, I have not played
cricket at any serious level. But still I think myself as a part of the
cricketing fraternity of the world as a fan. I love to read about cricket, watch
cricket matches of any era, between any teams and get in a cricket related
discussion every day, may be at work or with my friends, my parents or my wife.
And as a follower of this nobel game, I felt heartbroken for your demise.

Phill, I know I am just a
cricketing muggle compared to cricketing wizards like you, who has represented
their countries but I am five years older to you and it felt like a younger
brother has passed away. You were so young, with so much boundless potential
and opportunity to represent your country for next 10-12 years that it made
everyone hurt. But still it makes me a little happy to think that you had left
us while doing what you loved the most, playing cricket. I hope that there must
be an Australian cricket team in heaven with Bradman and Tramper in the team. There
you can resume your innings from 63 not out. As one of my friends has written
in Facebook, you were retired, we are
hurt.

Be well, my dear brother. Hope
god takes care of you up there and once you become an angel please protect Sean
Abbot, a young boy who is feeling the most terrible among all of us.